Inside The 2002 World Cup

There is reportedly a fair bit of anti-Americanism in this country, a not unnatural response to more than 50 years of U.S. troop postings in a land still divided by a war that never officially ended.

I have seen a couple of demonstrations that included chanting marchers displaying anti-American posters; You could tell that by the X through the flag even if you don't understand a word the protesters were saying. However, after 10 days here, my experience has been quite different. So many people, from taxi drivers to owners of small storefront shops to the hundreds of volunteers who man information booths at key points around the city, have been warm, outgoing and almost embarrassingly helpful.

Journalists have found that as they wait for media buses it is not uncommon for motorists to pull over to the curb and offer a ride to the hotel. A couple have been taken to dinner and given tours of the city after such chance meetings.

It's not quite what anybody expected and some of this could change Monday when the United States meets the Republic of Korea in Daegu. Indeed, local authorities in this city are planning a massive police presence downtown because the American embassy happens to sit quite close to an area where huge television screens are showing the World Cup games. More than 150,000 fans gathered there on Tuesday to watch South Korea defeat Poland and twice as many are expected Monday afternoon to watch their team's next game.

The police apparently aren't overly concerned about anti-Americanism; Instead they fear that celebrations in the case of a Korea win might spill over toward the U.S. building. They also wonder how Korean fans will react if Brian McBride & Co. strike the kind of form they showed against Portugal.

So far, Koreans today have voiced concern about ``how strong your American team is,'' but by Monday everybody might have his game face on.